if she was in fact pregnant, he didn’t want another man raising his child. Not getting her back just wasn’t an option. Suddenly it hit him: I left a place I wanted to be and a woman I wanted to be with, to go to a place I didn’t want to go to and speak with my father, who didn’t want to speak to me.
With that realization, he knew he needed to wrap things up and get back to his girl.
—
JL paced around her apartment with a bag of Fritos. She was three days late. She hadn’t had the nerve to take a pregnancy test, but she didn’t need one. She was pregnant, Enzo wasn’t back, and she was terrified and anxious and ready to eat her weight in potato chips. For the first two weeks she’d had hope he was away fixing the mess he’d made, but now, another two weeks later, she wasn’t so sure the man was coming back. And even if he did come back, would he move to Tarpon Springs? Florida had been supposed to be temporary, but things had changed, right? He still texted and called daily, even though she hadn’t responded once. But now…now she needed him. Today after work she would call him.
The only salvation amid all her self-doubts and worry was that she had so many supportive friends to count on. Even her brother would help, although she’d never met someone who disliked children as much as Travis did. Still, it would be his niece or nephew; he’d change his mind soon enough. And, thank God, her mother was still sober and doing better than ever. They’d been talking every day and ate a meal together at least a few times a week. It was the way she’d always hoped it would be with her mother, and she was dreaming about her baby growing up with a grandmother.
“Hi, honey,” her mother said, closing the door behind her. JL had ordered food, and they were going to have dinner. “Fritos? I thought you ordered Italian?”
JL poured the crumbs from the bag into her mouth before tossing it away. “Yep,” she said with a mouthful. “Got hungry.”
“Are you okay? Is it Enzo? You never want to talk about it.”
JL served them food and motioned for her mother to sit. “I don’t know. I just want him to come back already.”
“Have you told him that?”
JL took a bite of her baked ziti. “No. I want him to come back because he wants to come back, not because he feels he has to come back.”
Rita took a bite of her food, eyeing JL curiously. “Why would he feel he has to come back?”
JL pushed her plate away and laid her head on the table. Rita quickly got up, moved around the table, and cautiously embraced her daughter. They had been getting along wonderfully, but it was still at arm’s length. JL had been very cautious about getting too attached to this new and improved Rita, and Rita had been following her daughter’s lead. But JL needed a hug and it was time to start letting some of those walls down, so she turned and hugged her mother back. “Mama, I’m pregnant,” JL sobbed.
“I know, honey.”
JL pushed back and stared at her mother. “You do? How?”
“I remember how exhausted I felt when I was pregnant with you two, and I’ve noticed that you’ve been dead on your feet lately. Plus,” her mother added, screwing up her face, “you asked me to bring you two fish sandwiches with extra mustard the other day from McDonald’s, and I know you don’t like mustard. Besides, who orders a fish sandwich from McDonald’s?”
JL gave a watery chuckle. “I know. It’s so weird.”
“So are you crying because you’re pregnant or because Enzo left?”
“Both. I want him to come home already. I want to know where we stand.”
“You have to talk to him, honey. He’d be a fool not to snatch you right up, and from the few things you’ve told me, he’s a good man and he’ll do right by you.”
“I really hope so, Mama.” JL wiped her face with her hands, and Rita went back to the other side of the table so they could finish their meal.
“I brought you a little present,” Rita said when they finished the dishes.
“You did?” JL was taken aback. Her mother had never, ever given her a present before.
“It’s nothing. Just some things I saw today at the drugstore that made me think of